


ain't never been away so long

by scherpzinning



Series: Road Trip Season 7 [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-16 23:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15447759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scherpzinning/pseuds/scherpzinning
Summary: Now that they're on the path back to Earth, to Home, Shiro finally allows himself to think of what waits for him.Or, who won't be.





	ain't never been away so long

**Author's Note:**

> This work brought to you by me listening to Lord Huron's "Meet Me in the Woods" on a loop for hours on end. Go listen to it, it's a Shiro song through and through and I screamed at Maddy when I realized. 
> 
> I had literally only written two paragraphs of this when the Adam News was dropped- it was originally going to be a Matt/Shiro fic, but I dropped that as fast as I could because /Adam/. So now Matt has been regulated to the role of quirky best friend. A worthy sacrifice, I think.
> 
> Title from Lord Huron, "Meet Me in the Woods"

“Wait, no, I’m sorry, you were dead?” Matt’s voice steadily increased in pitch, until even Pidge flinched a bit.

“Matt, I understand the sentiment, but can you try not to become an actual dogwhistle?” she asked dryly, looking at her brother other the table.

Matt shot her a look, but it was hardly more than a quick glance before he went back to staring at Shiro, open-mouthed. Shiro was sitting between Pidge and Keith, smiling awkwardly while nervously tapping his fingers against the surface of the table.

“It’s a long story,” Shiro said, looking down at the table and shrugging a shoulder. “I just know what happened on my end, I don’t know how or why. Allura’s tried explaining some of her theories, but you know I don’t understand all of that stuff.”

“I was able to transfer his consciousness into the cloned body-” Allura started, but Lance practically shot out of his seat, slamming his palms down on the counter.

“After Keith went totally Lion King on him,” Lance said, a grin splitting his face. “No offense, Shiro, but it was pretty epic.”

“None taken, I’m sure it was quite cinematic,” Shiro said demurely. He looked at Keith, raising an eyebrow in silent question. Keith pursed his lips and didn’t meet Shiro’s eyes, but Shiro still noticed the rising blush on his brother’s cheeks. He couldn’t help but smile.

Matt was giving Shiro a similarly quizzical look when Shiro looked back at him, and once again Shiro found himself staring down at the table, his fingers resuming their drumbeat. After recovering from the shock of being put into this new body and having some time to process what had happened to put them on the path back to Earth, Shiro’s thoughts had kept coming back to what was waiting for him back home.

Or, rather, who wouldn’t be.

The resulting silence seemed to ring in Shiro’s ears, at least until Matt loudly cleared his throat. “Okay, well, you have to promise me that you’ll explain it all to me at some point.”

Shiro smiled in relief, recognizing the out Matt was giving him. “I will, once I understand it myself,” he said with a small laugh.

“Good,” Matt said with a decisive nod. “Now, I think Olia should be done with dinner. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.”

Everyone murmured their agreement, standing up and leaving the room in the direction of the kitchen. Only Matt and Shiro stayed sitting. Shiro could feel Matt looking at him, studying him carefully, but Shiro continued to avoid eye contact, instead staring down at his fingers.

“I’m always here if you want to talk, you know,” Matt said after what felt like a lifetime. He reached across the table, putting his hand on top of Shiro’s and stopping the tapping of Shiro’s fingers. Shiro looked up. Matt’s usual good natured grin was gone, his mouth set into a serious line.

Shiro made himself smile. “Thanks,” he said, the word hardly more than a whisper. The corner of Matt’s mouth quirked up in a smile, and he patted Shiro’s hand once more before he stood up. Shiro took a moment to breathe in deep, and then he stood up as well and followed Matt into the kitchen.

**

They were spending the night at the rebel base before resuming their journey to Earth the next morning, and as much as Shiro was glad to have his own room for the night, he couldn’t fall asleep. At least it wasn’t the nightmares keeping him up tonight- it was just straight up whirlwind thoughts, most of which had been dredged up due to the fact that they were finally going home.

Finally, Shiro dragged his hand down his face and sat up. Without thinking, he pulled on his shirt and left the room, heading for the base’s kitchen. Maybe a glass of water would help.

The hallways were still gently lit, and Shiro passed a few people hurrying to and fro while he walked. Even with Lotor and Zarkon gone, the rebels didn’t stop. A few people he passed smiled or nodded, and he returned the gestures, but he tried to still his mind as he walked. Patience yields focus.

Passing Keith’s door, he heard the low sound of voices inside. Shiro recognized Keith’s voice, and then there was a laugh that was distinctly Lance’s. Shiro couldn’t help but smile, promising himself to rib Keith a little about it later.

Shiro was just turning the corner into the kitchen when a he ran into something solid- Matt, who was coming out of the kitchen just as Shiro was coming in. Matt looked up at Shiro, squinting a bit against the lights and the fact that he wasn’t wearing his glasses.

“Oof,” Matt said with a wince as he took in Shiro’s sleep-deprived state. Shiro hadn’t thought he looked that bad, but maybe it was the look on his face or something. “Bad night?”

“I-yeah,” Shiro tried to put on a brave face and continue with his simple plan of getting water, but he folded under Matt’s (admittedly, not very intense) scrutinizing look. “Can we- Can I take you up on your earlier offer? To talk?”

“Yeah, of course, man,” Matt said, reaching up and clapping a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “Come on with me to Chez Matt. I don’t have a leather couch, but I’m not sure you’d fit on one anyway.”

Only a step behind Matt, Shiro shook his head in exasperation. “Ha, ha.”

Matt’s room, for the first time in all the years Shiro had known Matt, was practically bare. Most of his stuff had been packed up in the Green Lion, and all he had was a duffel bag and a backpack waiting by the door. But he still walked in like he owned the place (Shiro supposed he did, in a way) .He grabbed a water bottle from the mini fridge and threw it to Shiro, who caught it instinctively.

“Man, not even living on the spirit plane can mess with those hand-eye coordinations, huh,” Matt observed with a raised eyebrow, motioning for Shiro to take the desk chair while he sat cross-legged on the bed, his back against the wall.

Matt inclined his head, an unspoken invitation for Shiro to talk. Shiro took a sip of his water, anxiously fidgeting with the bottle while he tried to get his thoughts into some semblance of order.

“What if...” Shiro took a deep breath. “What if he’s not there when we get back? I know we didn’t leave things very....neat, before the mission, but it’s been over a year and everyone thinks I’m dead and-”

“Shiro, Shiro, deep breaths, you need to breathe while you talk,” Matt said, holding both hands up in a cautioning, slow down gesture. “You’re talking about Adam?”

Shiro nodded.

“Listen, I can’t say I understood the nuances of you two’s relationship before we left for the mission,” Matt started, choosing his words carefully. “But I did know that that guy loved you more than most things on Earth, and I very much doubt that anything’s done anything to change that.”

“Matt, I died,” Shiro stressed. “He didn’t want me going to Kerberos because of the danger- both of space and to my body, and he was right! Now I’ve been pronounced dead on Earth, and here in space I might have well have been.”

“Okay, so he was right.” Matt leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “He can lord it over you for a bit, as any smart boyfriend would do, but I strongly believe that the moment he hears that you’re back, he’s going to be fucking punching down the door of wherever you are so that he can get to you.”

Shiro stared at the floor. Objectively he knew Matt was right, but that little demon in his brain just tried to scream over all the rational advice. The last fight he and Adam had had before the Kerberos mission was playing on a loop in his head.

He heard Matt heave a sigh, and Shiro looked up.

“Listen, Shiro,” Matt said firmly. “Look at it like this: You’ve endured alien gladiator battles, giant cat robots, evil alien elf witches and their stupidly pretty sons, literally dying, and dealing with the three stooges and my sister for months on end, not to mention some wild hair and wardrobe changes. You’ve endured all of that, and based on our time in the arena together-” Matt closed his eyes and shook his head, as if dispelling bad memories, and he rubbed at his injured leg briefly. “Your one and sometimes only motivation was to get back to him.”

“Yeah,” Shiro breathed, nodding. “Yeah.” In the arena his constant mantra had been Adam’s name, and even when he had been on the spirit plane trying to watch out for Keith and the rest of the team, he’d think of Adam all he could, just to distract himself from the pure madness that had been happening.

“He’s probably been doing the same, back on Earth. Especially with my dad back now, he should know that the ship didn’t crash and kill us, especially not due to pilot error.” Matt made air quotes with his fingers around the last words. “He’s going to come find you as soon as he’s able, Shiro- If he’s not the first in line when we land.”

Shiro smiled, some of the heaviness in his chest lifting. Sometimes, it just helped to have some objective third party to tell you obvious facts like these. “Thanks, Matt.”

Matt smiled self-assuredly and leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest. “Well, you know, I am a goldmine of hot takes and good advice.”

Shiro laughed. “Didn’t you once try to lick the ceiling at the garrison?”

“It looked like popcorn, Shiro. Ceilings shouldn’t be that pointy.”

“Alright, Matt, whatever you say.”

They sat in easy silence for a little longer, Shiro sipping slowly at the water Matt had given him. He didn’t want to go back to his own room yet, lest his mind fall back down into its new favorite rabbit hole.

“Matt?”

Matt looked up from whatever he was reading on his tablet when Shiro spoke up.

“Do you mind if I crash in here tonight? I just....It’s maybe not a good idea for me to be alone tonight.”

Shiro expected some quirky answer from Matt, but instead the other boy smiled softly. “Yeah, of course,” he said. He got up and rummaged around in one of the rooms closets, pulling out something that extended into a kind of air mattress, and then he threw down a blanket and some pillows.

“It’ll be like a slumber party,” Matt said over his shoulder with a grin. “We can paint each other’s toes and talk about what a bitch Becky is.”

Shiro meant to laugh, but it quickly turned into a yawn. He let himself more or less fall onto the air matress and pull the blanket over his shoulders. Matt mirrored him, getting into his own bunk and pressing a button so the room went dark.

“Hey, Shiro,” Matt whispered after a moment of silence. Shiro made a sleepy questioning sound.

“Once, I saw Adam run into a wall because he was staring at your butt as you walked by. If that doesn’t scream true love, then I don’t think anything will.”

Shiro smiled, huffing out a breath of laughter before letting himself fall into sleep. And this time, he dreamed of nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> The ceiling thing is an actually thing Maddy has done to my ceiling, for reasons that I still don't fully understand.


End file.
